Town Square

Manager of Senior Complex forget Seniors have rights

Original post made
by Pdudley, another community,
on Jun 6, 2007

Having recently moved into an apartment house for persons at least 62 of age or disabled We are having to do quite a bit of adjusting. This complex is not an assisted living facility nor is it a nursing home. It is however a HUD assisted apartment facility but, when we moved from our home to downsize we did not know we would be treated like we are no longer adults. The manager of this residence used to manage an assisted living/nursing home and she is running this place the same way. Example: I was in bed recovering from a broncial infection and at 8:30 am I heard our front door open, I woke my husband and we found the maintaince man had used his pass key to enter our apt. as he wanted to change the paper filter in our system. This is routine maintainace and could be scheduled, not an emergency situation. (We might be old but We are not dead we sleep in the nude and do not appreciate anyone entering our home without our permission.) We only have a small 1 bedroom apt. and I have been in the shower and came out to find maintainace person in our apt. We are not allowed to install a seperate night latch as they must have keys to all locks. But they just use their keys and come in whenever they please. When we moved in we offered to bring our large stainless steel outdoor kitchen and place on the shared balcony area for all to use for BBQ's etc. we were told we were welcome to donate it to the facility by only the staff would be allowed to cook on it.
Our Grandchild loves to come visit, he is 8 years old and we like to pick him up once or twice a month from school and let him stay with us until his parents get off work, so we can visit and have fun time. We were told we were not allowed to "Babysit", and when we explained that this was family we were not being paid to babysit, it did not matter. Now they are planning extensive rennovations to this 6 floor apt. house. We are to receive new kitchen cabinets, floors, sinks, appliances, windows, and toilets. This is wonderful except for the problem that during this rennovation we still have to live in our apts. but we must vacate them during the day hours for work to be done, remove and pack all our things and place them out of the way so they can do the construction work. Then come in and reside in the evening. We will have no kitchen to cook in or keep food in for at least a week or more while work is being done. We had to sign papers that they are not responsible for lost, broken or damaged items while work is being done. We must either sit downstairs or leave the property all day long. We are on a fixed income now and cannot afford to eat out plus pay rent etc. So we are very nervous about this approaching adventure. They have already started the demolition in some of the units and it has been over two months and they still are not back together so we hate to see them start on ours. Thank you for letting me vent.

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Posted by Matt Raschke
a resident of The Crossings
on Jun 11, 2007 at 9:21 pm

"We were told we were not allowed to "Babysit", and when we explained that this was family we were not being paid to babysit, it did not matter."

That sounds pretty harsh. I assume you have a written lease that was signed by all parties. Everything you described should be explicitly allowed or stated in the lease. If not, you may have a case for harassment.

Was signing the waiver for potential damage by the contractors necessary to get the improvements? No one can force you to sign away your rights. Any contract is negotiable. If the contractor doesn't have to worry about breaking your things, he will not be careful at all. I would be nervous too.

You should look into getting pro bono legal advice from your local Community Services office. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Posted by Daniel DeBolt
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Jun 13, 2007 at 2:09 pm

Free legal advice is available to seniors at the city's new Senior Center on Escuela, though there is a waiting list.
If you would like to let us at The Voice know more about this problem for a possible story, please email ddebolt@mv-voice.com with your contact information. We will keep you anonymous unless you chose to reveal yourself.